This Sticky hasn't been updated in a while and even though i do not imagine for a moment that i could improve on it in any way, i am hoping that my real time implementation of post-installation debian configuration as applied to Jessie while i do it now may be of some use.
The final goal is a minimal Debian Jessie install with a conveniently configured standalone OpenBox.
So if permitted here goes:
During installation i had ticked the box marked "Yes" when asked about non-free software and also the box marked "backports" when configuring apt. I had also unticked everything except Standard System Utilities when given the option to choose software. Thanks to the default Greek mirror my sources.list is nicely preconfigured to include non-free software, Release updates and backport releases without any need for further alterations.
This is what i have done after logging in for the first time:
Code:
$ su -
Password: <root password>
# apt-get update
# apt-get install gpm vim sudo
# apt-get install menu gksu xorg
You don't have to install vim if you are comfortable using nano.
Am about to install firmware after i give myself administrative rights as a normal user. When i come back and find that the administrators have in their wisdom deemed my extension of the sticky relevant and it hasn't been removed, i will edit this post as i go along. Thanks.
Before i gave myself administrative rights i changed the system's default editor which is nano to vim because despite several years of linux experience under my belt i still feel like a rat in a maze in nano while i find vim more navigable and easier for simple editing. If you feel more comfortable with nano good for you. You can avoid this step.
Code:
# update-alternatives --config editor
You will be presented with a table with the available editors in numbered rows. Type the number of the editor of your choice at the prompt and press "Enter".
Note that i have chosen to not yet enter the graphical environment with the "startx" command because it will be pretty much like this at this point.
To give yourself administrative rights as normal user do this:
This will open the /etc/sudoers file in the default system editor or the one you picked as per the previous step.
Scroll down to the line,
Code:
root ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
underneath it add the line,
Code:
<your_username> ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
Exit the editor after saving changes and reboot. Now you can perform administrative tasks with sudo.
On reboot i did this;
Code:
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install firmware-linux firmware-linux-free firmware-linux-nonfree
Now i am about to install OpenBox as below:
Code:
$ sudo apt-get install openbox obconf obmenu
Will be back soon.
Alrighty, before i proceed i should make a few things clear. My aim has been to arrive at an optimal balance of minimum system resources and the advantages of the day-to-day conveniences that a full blown Desktop Environment provides. To that end i have chosen to have a standalone Window Manager instead of a Desktop Environment. My choices are dictated by my degree of comfort with the software, and not being an advanced user who is equally at home in any environment i have chosen OpenBox. If your preferences are Fluxbox or something else, then it's configuration shall be entirely up to you because i haven't the foggiest about it.
Before entering X i am going to install a graphical File Browser and Text Editor as without these two there's isn't any point of having a graphical environment at all, right? I have found that nothing beats xfe in a standalone Window Manager. Just tried out Thunar before i came here and trust me, without a DE it's practically useless and looks quite threadbare too. However the choice is entirely yours, there's loads of them out there, choose the one you prefer. Another thing, i have found having Synaptic Package Manager around very convenient, if nothing just to have a visual representation of the software i wish to look up, it's dependencies and to remove any "residual configs" after i uninstall a package. Advanced users may find this very amusing and even cause them to smirk but we noobs shouldn't worry about that, should we? So here goes:
Code:
$ sudo apt-get install synaptic xfe leafpad
Now lets run startx and enter the graphical environment we made for ourselves. What do you think, it's beautiful, ja? No it ain't but we will do something about that tomorrow, including deciding on a browser. At the end of this i hope to compile and upgrade to a newer kernel besides having all my multimedia needs met.
Good morning everybody, today i am going to rush through the tips i picked up over the years from my betters on how i get my basic configuration working without implementing them myself yet so that any newbie can get this thing on the road quickly.
To mount and open usb drives in xfe:
Code:
$ sudo apt-get install pmount usbmount
Since i do not have a Desktop environment, i do not have a default browser, i have found this 2 browser combo works for me;
Code:
$ sudo apt-get install qupzilla links2
Java and Flash for my browser;
Code:
$ sudo apt-get install default-jre flashplugin-nonfree flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound
To get sound and video just installing these 2 got me pulseaudio and VLC media player without having to install them separately;
Code:
$ sudo apt-get install pavucontrol vlc-plugin-pulse
To get a wallpaper i followed the
Debian Openbox Wiki:
For autologin and automatic "startx":
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=123694
To improve the quality of fonts for Qupzilla and my sparse and thrifty configuration:
http://www.crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=40564
To increase the default xterm font size to suit my poor vision i used
Method 2 suggested by Serg here:
To modify the openbox menu and add applications i use regularly:
Code:
$ sudo leafpad /etc/xdg/openbox/menu.xml
I have been advised to use geany to edit the xml file and you might want to do that. I make do with leafpad. This is what mine's like:
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<openbox_menu xmlns="http://openbox.org/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://openbox.org/
file:///usr/share/openbox/menu.xsd">
<menu id="root-menu" label="Openbox 3">
<item label="Terminal emulator">
<action name="Execute"><execute>x-terminal-emulator</execute></action>
</item>
<item label="File Manager">
<action name="Execute"><execute>xfe</execute></action>
</item>
<item label="Text Editor">
<action name="Execute"><execute>leafpad</execute></action>
</item>
<item label="Volume">
<action name="Execute"><execute>pavucontrol</execute></action>
</item>
<item label="Blender3D">
<action name="Execute"><execute>/home/sade/blender-2.75a-linux-glibc211-x86_64/blender</execute></action>
</item>
<item label="Web browser">
<action name="Execute"><execute>x-www-browser</execute></action>
</item>
<item label="Package Manager">
<action name="Execute"><execute>gksudo synaptic</execute></action>
</item>
<item label="Reboot">
<action name="Execute"><execute>gksudo reboot</execute></action>
</item>
<item label="Shutdown">
<action name="Execute"><execute>gksudo poweroff -i -f</execute></action>
</item>
<!-- This requires the presence of the 'menu' package to work -->
<menu id="/Debian" />
<separator />
<menu id="client-list-menu" />
<separator />
<item label="ObConf">
<action name="Execute"><execute>obconf</execute></action>
</item>
<item label="Reconfigure">
<action name="Reconfigure" />
</item>
<item label="Restart">
<action name="Restart" />
</item>
<separator />
<item label="Exit">
<action name="Exit" />
</item>
</menu>
</openbox_menu>
There, this is mostly all that i need to have my system up and running. The reason i am not implementing this yet is because i intend to compile and upgrade my kernel to the latest stable version 4.2 as shown by @m_yates in the Sticky here. Previous attempts had caused my pulseaudio and sound to stop working so i am going to hold off installing them, and also making any core system level changes like implementing the autologin i mentioned here, until later. Good luck.